The present invention is directed to the field of remote monitoring and control of automated apparatus. In particular, the present invention uses a remote based computer to communicate with a computer located in the proximity of the apparatus that actually monitors and controls the apparatus. The computer at the site of the apparatus communicates with the remote computer via the Internet.
The currently available computer based remote control apparatus suffer from the disadvantages of the requirement for unique proprietary client software which must reside on each remote computer demanding access to the base computer. The need for this unique client software encumbers the transfer of monitoring responsibilities from one remote machine to another. Further, the currently available systems suffer from the lack of a multi-platform capability. Currently available implementations are designed for specific computer operating systems (i.e. Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, Sun Solaris, etc.). The present invention avoids platform specific implementation through the use of Web technologies (HTML, Browsers, etc. . . . ), and Java. The available systems also suffer from the absence of a conventional embedded means for providing high level communications security. Conventional Web browsers and servers are now capable of 128 bit encryption, ensuring for extremely secure data communications links.